The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) declined by 0.55% to reach 973.70 points over the last week. The market capitalization declined from $9.52B, last week, to $9.46B this week.
On average, 172,552 shares worth $1.42M were traded on the BSE last week compared to 221,835 shares worth $1.69M, in the week ending September 14.
Regionally, during the last week, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the S&P AFE 40, and the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large Mid Cap Index recorded an increase of 1.89%, 0.06%, and 0.49% respectively.
In the Arab world, Egypt’s stock index witnessed the largest weekly loss of 9.07%, after an Egyptian criminal court ordered the arrest of president Hosni Mubarak’s two sons on charges of stock market manipulation. Moreover, the Dubai and Qatari stock markets ended the week in the red, with respective drops of 1.89% and 2.24%. However, Saudi Arabia’s, TASI, recorded a weekly increase of 1.74%.
On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the banking sector grasped 82.33% of the total trading value, while the real estate and industrial sectors grasped 16.24% and 1.43%, respectively.
In the banking sector, during the last week, Audi listed shares and Audi GDRs decreased by a weekly 0.98% and 0.97% to $5.05 and $5.10, respectively. However, BLOM GDR shares rose by 0.44% to $9.10.
On the London Stock Exchange, the GDR shares of BLOM Bank witnessed an uptick of 0.56% over the week, to $9, while Audi GDR shares fell 0.97% to $5.10.
As for the Blom Preferred shares Index (BPSI), it recorded a loss of 0.21%, thereby ending the week at 89.82 points. In details, the downtick over the past week is attributed to the:
In the real estate sector, Solidere A and B shares decreased by 3.54% and 7.86% to stand at $6 and $5.86, respectively.
With the continuous disputes over the cabinet formation, the Lebanese economy is failing to recuperate. As such, major positive political events are required for the Lebanese stock market to revert to its normal levels.